


strong

by softiexy



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/F, chuuves - Freeform, lipsoul, lowercase intended, viseul
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-04-27 20:33:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14433549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softiexy/pseuds/softiexy
Summary: in which ha sooyoung, cho haseul, and jung jinsol are supposed to be strong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this work was formally known as yves. i've changed the sort of plot to focus more on each of the 97 line rather than just sooyoung. i hope you understand. thank you.

opening the car door, ha sooyoung held her hand up to ask people to neither follow nor take pictures of her. however, the flashes had already started the moment she had parked her minimalistic ford fiesta in the parking space next to the pavement. heels clicking on the ground, she rushed into the bar where she was set to meet her two friends, jinsol and haseul.  
  
together, the three girls were something like an unstoppable force. jinsol's father was one of - if not the richest millionaire in the country: owning the biggest company; and haseul's mother had made millions in a popular k-pop band when she was young. sooyoung's mother owned a fashion company that had spread worldwide. with all of their money, the girls could possibly buy all of the biggest entertainment companies.  
  
but, at that point, they were still stuck in bars, drinking their lives away and ending up in a different stranger's bed every night. it wasn't the best look for them, but they didn't really care. they were more focussed on making the most of life while they could.  
  
they were all students at some point. but they'd dropped out. or rather, jinsol and sooyoung had been kicked out and haseul had dropped out. as best friends, they had promised each other that they'd always stick by each other's sides. and they were gonna stick to that promise. even if it meant stopping what they loved.  
  
looking around, sooyoung noticed no-one that visually sparked her interest. they were all the same. drunk men only thinking of one thing: sex. she supposed that it was rather hypocritical of her to take that point of view, given that she was infamous for getting shit-faced and sleeping with a stranger. but it was how it was, and there was no way that sooyoung could change that.  
  
as if on cue, two girls walked into the bar. one was relatively short, while the other was around medium height. the girl that caught sooyoung's eye, however, was the smaller girl. she had brown hair (the brightness being impossible to tell in the technicolour lights) that was pushed behind her ear, a bit from each side tied in front of her hair. it was all straightened and and she had some bangs. sooyoung couldn't see them very well, but her eyes looked pretty. sooyoung was so engrossed in identifying all of the girl's features, she had no idea that the girl had noticed until the girl started walking toward her.  
  
smiling coyly - trying to come off as interested in being there - sooyoung, ignored her friends suggesting that they should all get some drinks and focussed on the girl in front of her. the girl was definitely shorter than her, and her eyes were most certainly beautiful. sooyoung's mind was screaming at her, telling her that whatever she was doing was wrong (which it was) yet she ignored it: focussing her attention on the petite girl in front of her.  
  
neither of them said a word, but the atmosphere wasn't tense. the music booming from the large speakers and the colourful, brandish lights were long forgotten, and the pair found themselves centralising each other. the shorter girl bit her lip, not yet disconnecting their gazes. they were so entranced by the other that not either one noticed a blonde girl creeping up behind the shorter and pushing them closer down to the moment of the event. a low, shy, chuckle escaped the younger's lips as their gazes were torn apart by modest looks at the floor.  
  
"i'm jiwoo." the shorter girl shouted, the reality of their location only just hitting sooyoung. looking around, the older noticed that her two friends had somehow disappeared from her line of sight. bringing her attention back to the shorter - jiwoo, a cute name in sooyoung's opinion - realisation hit her as she noticed how the younger seemingly had no idea who she was. the feeling was strange, sooyoung hadn't felt it in a very long time, but it was the feeling of being unknown. it would have been a falsehood to voice that sooyoung did not enjoy that feeling, her only true memories of it having been from a young age where nobody really cared who you were. and for some strange reason, sooyoung truly wanted it to stay that way. which was why she followed up by telling the younger girl that her name was 'yves.'  


* * *

that night, sooyoung had left rather early. as opposed to getting drunk to the point where everything had turned numb, she had spent the remainder of her time out with jiwoo. shortly after their meeting, they had decided that the bar was not the best of places to converse in. following on from that, they soon found themselves messing around in a local park. or, as the events took place, jiwoo messing around and sooyoung laughing at her.  
  
in reflection to sooyoung's previous thoughts, jiwoo was undoubtedly cute. perhaps, too cute in some situations. the younger girl seemed to be a lot happier in the great outdoors than she was in the bar, and a lot livelier too. sooyoung found herself questioning whether she had left with the same person she was previously speaking to, or whether it was a complete stranger that had taken over jiwoo's body.  
  
unsurprisingly, the strangest part of their time together was being called 'yves.' sooyoung was dumbfounded at how she had come up with that name for herself, and although it sounded sweet coming from the younger's lips, she could not get used to being called that by someone. there were times when she looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else there, oblivious to her own mind's creations. to that, jiwoo giggled. it was under her breath, yes, but sooyoung still managed to notice it.  
  
once sooyoung had arrived back home in her car, she was greeted by her parents. the pair were, to say the least, stunned by their daughter's precedence. never had she returned home before the clock had struck midnight. she was sure that to them, the occurrence had previously seemed impossible. yet, there their daughter was, home before eleven o'clock and sober too. part of sooyoung was worried that she had given her father a heart attack when she saw his reaction. sooyoung, however, simply smiled and told them that there had been a change of plans and that she'd ditched her two friends for something more interesting.  
  
on her bedside table, sooyoung's phone lit up, reminding her of one critical thing: she hadn't asked for jiwoo's phone number. and, to add to that, she had several worried and concerned miscalls and texts from jinsol and haseul, no doubt wondering how their friend had disappeared. sooyoung felt slightly guilty for not telling her friends, though she thought that might've ruined the night for herself.  
  
the caller id said that it was jinsol, but from the rapid speed the calls were coming through (rapid for phone calls) it seemed like haseul had taken control. sooyoung braced herself, taking a deep breath in preparation for facing her worried friends, who were capable of sending search parties out for her. and happily would.  
  
" _ha sooyoung, where the fuck have you been? i was actually about to call the police!_ " haseul almost yelled over the phone. sooyoung could tell that the girls were walking alone in the streets as she could clearly hear the sound of taxi cabs passing by and drunk people chattering outside bars.  
  
"calm down, i'm alive. i met someone in the bar and we decided to leave together. y'know, to get some fresh air." sooyoung explained before she faintly heard jinsol ask haseul to put it on speakerphone.  
  
" _what happened to stranger danger?_ " jinsol asked, clearly not as worried as haseul, more focussed on how her teeth were audibly chattering as they both wandered. " _are you home or are you still out with them?_ "  
  
"i'm home now, you don't need to worry about me. just go back to your homes, or to a bar or something. i don't know. just stay safe." sooyoung ended the call, not wanting any more trouble. she'd already caused her two friends enough those few hours, they needn't deal with anymore. alcohol and stress don't mix. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um, so this is my first work on here so please be patient. also, please don't expect me to finish it since i hardly ever finish anything.


	2. Chapter 2

sooyoung had returned to the very same bar every night of the following week, hoping that she'd run into jiwoo once more. however, her plan had been less than successful. not once had the short brunette shown up, and sooyoung was left to stand out like a sore thumb - the only person who wasn't drinking alcohol.  
  
another thing that made her stand out was how she stood by the door, sipping on her orange juice awkwardly, deterring any people who might've wanted to flirt with her. she was truly standing out amongst the crowd. and her friends had started to notice.  
  
"maybe they don't want to meet you again. or maybe they moved away." haseul comforted the elder. both sooyoung's friends had managed to drag her away from the door and to the bar, although getting her to drink was a different story. "you've been here every night. people will start to suspect things."  
  
"yes, seul, because people just move away randomly in the middle of the week. if anything, it's just another idiot out to play with people's hearts. he's a useless piece of shit, okay? he means nothing." haseul shot jinsol a deathly glare, which made the blonde take a step back and hold her hands up in surrender. "i'm just telling the truth." haseul ignored jinsol's defence and turned back to sooyoung, who had focussed her attention back on her orange juice.  
  
"jinsol's right. he means nothing. he's just another useless boy." sooyoung stated monotonously, not looking up from her juice, stirring it with the straw and sighing. but yet her brain was screaming at her to take back that statement, to fight what jinsol had said. all while haseul was rubbing her back softly, telling her that everything was going to be okay.  
  
but that reminded sooyoung of just how happy she was that night. how jiwoo wasn't just a nameless, meaningless nobody. she was a girl, who - for the first time in what had felt like forever - had made sooyoung feel happy. truly happy. it wasn't a fake sort of happiness, a smile put on for the press or her two unknowing friends. it was a smile of absolute ecstasy, one that sooyoung had forgotten could ever return to her face. and the smile on jiwoo's face, too! that was a sight to see. sooyoung had never seen a smile like it, a smile so pure, so beautiful that it could light up even the darkest of night skies; putting the sun out of business. that night, and the joyful memories that had come along with it, didn't mean nothing. it meant the world, even if it was only sooyoung who saw it that way.  
  
"you know, if you keep a smile like that on your face, people are gonna think i put something in your drink." jinsol's voice pulled sooyoung out of her memories, reminding her that in the real world, jiwoo could quite possibly be a figment of her imagination. someone she had created simply for the task of making herself happy once more, even if it was just for the shortest time. sooyoung let her face drop, her cheeks burning bright red from embarrassment. "sorry, seul's upset with me so she walked off. and now you're stuck with me."  
  
"have you ever met someone that you like so much, and you don't even need to think twice before walking out the door with them and following them for the rest of your life." sooyoung asked, taking jinsol off guard. sooyoung mentally cursed herself, asking why on earth she'd ever say something as stupid as that. until jinsol answered, but it wasn't exactly the response sooyoung hoped for.  
  
"if you're that hung up on him, why don't you look him up on social media, he's bound to show up somewhere." sooyoung had to bite the insides of her mouth to stop herself from screaming that she was hung up on a girl. and not just any girl, an extraordinary one. one that made her smile, laugh until tears came out of her eyes. but sooyoung had no guts to do that, and shyly took out her phone to follow through with jinsol's instructions.  
  
jiwoo was a common name, but it was most commonly used as a girl's name. there was a very small chance of sooyoung being able to convince jinsol that it was a guy she had met that night. and yet somehow, fate had it that jinsol believed that he obviously didn't have a social media account. after around ten or eleven, jinsol noticed that all of the accounts were either private or girls - therefore, there was no hope of them finding the guy sooyoung so clearly missed.  
  
but what she didn't notice was that sooyoung had managed to take a screenshot of an account named chuu that featured a girl who sooyoung was sure was the same girl she had met the week before.

* * *

when sooyoung arrived home, the first thing she did was create a new instagram account using her private email. was it stupid and only expanding the web of lies sooyoung had built for herself? most definitely. but did it really matter when it was in the name of love? sooyoung didn't seem to think so.  
  
the name of her account was hayves, taking both her first name and her made-up name (the one she used to introduce herself to jiwoo) into account. then, the next thing was to find jiwoo and talk to her. but that was easier said than done.  
  
the only problem was, what exactly was she supposed to say? there was no point in introducing herself - jiwoo would already know who she was. sooyoung wanted to sound casual - not like how she has to answer text messages from her family. but how exactly did one sound casual? _hey_? _'sup_? they were pathetic and cringe-y. if jiwoo, or anyone, saw that from someone they didn't know it would be instantly ignored. sooyoung would've happily ignored someone who spoke as stupidly as that.  
  
however, as sooyoung was contemplating, a message came through. _hi, you followed me! :))))_ this caused sooyoung to bite her lip to force back a smile, although she miserably failed and couldn't bite off the cheesy, goofy grin on her face. she knew that jiwoo was possibly the only person who could pull that message off, and wasn't at all surprised when she received it.  
  
it took a while, but sooyoung soon messaged the petite girl back and they started a conversation. from her own side of the conversation, all of sooyoung's messages were incredibly awkward. however, jiwoo didn't seem to notice, or mind, as she texted back quickly and enthusiastically, making the older girl's heart flutter.  
  
with every message that was shared between the two girls, sooyoung wanted to see jiwoo more and more. she wanted to see jiwoo's beautiful eyes, her adorable eye smile, hear her cute little laugh. the one memory she had felt like it was fading away, but that clearly wasn't the case as jiwoo's voice could almost be heard from the messages.  
  
therefore, sooyoung's next idea hit her in the face like a brick and caused her to wonder why she hadn't asked the question in the first place. _do you wanna meet up?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this is cheesy. sorry it took so long.


	3. Chapter 3

haseul was sure that she had gotten lost before the three girls had shown up and practically saved her life. frustrated, she left her two friends and the bar to get some fresh air but before she knew it, she found herself in some random park she'd never seen before. disoriented and freezing in the cold, night air with nowhere to go she found the nearest bench and brought her knees up to her chest, as un-lady-like as it was in the short, navy dress she was wearing.  
  
she pulled her phone out of her clutch, only to find that it had died: karma for not charging it before she went out. sighing, haseul found herself scanning every inch of the park for a sign of human life: to no avail. all she saw was greenery, and that couldn't help her get home.  
  
the air seemed to be getting colder, causing haseul to attempt to pill her legs in even closer, although it might not have been possible. her teeth chattered and her goosebump-covered body shivered. _i'm going to die_ was repeated in her head, whatever logical doubt of that statement deteriorating at a rapid pace. the world had become void of noise, silence enclosing her into a small space with only her deepest thoughts. even her own shadow had gotten up and left in the dim lighting provided by the dying streetlights and the pale moonlight. she was fully convinced that it was how she was going to die, alone in the depth of the night, lonely, possibly even friendless since her fight with jinsol, her whole body frozen and the only thing being repeated in her mind was _i'm going to die, i'm going to die, i'm going to die, i'm going to-_  
  
"are you okay?" a blonde girl asked, stood up but leaning down to reach haseul's level. haseul stopped rocking in place and looked up, slightly embarrassed by the state she'd been found in. she slowly released her legs her own grip, cautiously letting them down until her feet made contact with the cold ground. a weak, sheepish smile made its way to her lips, partnered with rose-tinted cheeks. the girl's hand made itself to haseul's exposed shoulder, but soon went flying back with the girl hissing. "you're so cold, take my jacket! what are you doing out here?" a black coat was virtually thrown onto haseils body, and the brunette kindly took it.  
  
warming up, she was able to look closer at the girl, and noticed that there were two other girls behind her whose faces were lit up from one of the girls' phone screen. the girls hadd brown hair, similar shades, were around the same height and were wearing thesame sort of coat as the one that had been thrown at haseul. . one girl's hair had been straightened and tied up into a ponytail, while the other kept her hair down and let it get blown by the wind everysooften. the blonde's hair was also straightened, but she hadn't done anything else to style it.  
  
"th-thank you." haseul stuttered out, teenth still chattering despite feeling slightly less cold in the puffy coat. "could you maybe give me directions back to fourth street? my car's there and i really need to be getting home."  
  
"nonsense! you can't be out alone. we're on our way back to our dorms, you can stay with us for the night, we have a spare bed." the girl offered her hand out and haseul took it, muttering her second 'thank you' of the night. "i'm jungeun, this is kahei and the one glued to her phone is jiwoo." jungeun slipped her arm around kahei's shoulder while using her free hand to point at jiwoo.  
  
"nice to meet you. i'm..." she paused, thinking everything over. should she use her full name, risking them discovering her identity and what sort of people her and her friends were? jungeun hadn't used their full names, and they probably weren't expecting haseul to use hers either. so using her full name would have made her suspicious, and would hint at her being famous. but what if they found out who she was and felt betrayed that she'd lied to them? the girls seemed friendly enough to start a friendship with. yet they might treat her differently if they knew that she was practically stalked by the press — not wanting to be seen out with someone and wanting to keep their lives private. "... haseul. my name's haseul." and though the last statement had been unnecessary, it assured her that she was capable of hiding her identity. even if it was only for one night.

* * *

"jiwoo i swear to god if you trip one more time i'm going to throw your phone into a bush!" jungeun cursed, helping jiwoo off the ground for the nth time, dusting the younger girl's grazed (and perhaps even bleeding knees) off. haseul stiffled a chuckle as jiwoo locked her phone, placing it into her coat pocket.  
  
since jungeun was leading the way, haseul had fallen behind, jiwoo walking next to jungeun and kahei walking next to haseul. haseul had managed to almost study kahei as they were walking, and found that she seemed to be immune to jungeun and jiwoo's aimless and incessant bickering, failing to crack even the faintest attempt of a smile once throughout the night. she was silent. haseul had an urge to speak up, but felt as if she would've been imposing on the girl's privacy if she asked questions about it. though in heels, haseul could tell that her kahei were around the same height, or at least had less than a centimetre between them. she sneaked glances at the girl's side profile as if to make sure it hadn't changed since the last time she looked. it never changed, and she knew it wasn't going to, but for a reason so inexplicable that even haseul herself didn't know what it was, her eyes kept diverting from jungeun who she was following to kahei, who somehow hadn't noticed.  
  
"where do you live?" jiwoo asked, walking backwards as jungeun kept a firm grip on her wrist: another giggle that haseul forced herself to keep down.  
  
"the other side of town." haseul didn't want to lie to them. to her, it felt wrong. she shouldn't lie to them. they were sweet enough to let a complete stranger, someone they'd met less than an hour ago, walk back to wherever their dorm was and stay on their spare bed, which was far too sweet in her eyes. the other side of town was the 'rich' side, where everyone whose family had any sort of name for itself lived. it was a busy area, but not as busy as everywhere else seemed to be. the neighbourhood seemed peaceful, but the neighbours themselves would often keep to themselves and would turn a cold shoulder to any polite pleasantries one might have made. the most interaction haseul had ever seen between people there was a curt greeting from the children who would see each other in the morning when leaving the house to go to school, and maybe even when arriving back. but everyone was more indulged in their own problems, in their own wants and needs to have time to ask pleasantries such as 'what lovely weather we're having today?' or 'how have you been since i last saw you?  
  
"then why are you all the way over here? i'd much rather be where you live. there probably aren't any druggies hanging around, ruining their lives." jiwo said, causing a smile to creep up onto haseul's face. the statement was innacurate - there were many 'druggies' in her area, some of which she'd known since school. but she found it nice to have someone see the place she lived as nice, or at least nicer than the tighter community of the area she was in then.  
  
"jiwoo!" jungeun yelled as jiwoo fell backwards, pulling jungeun down with her. haseul bit her lip in an attempt to suppress her laughter, but ultimately failed. instead, she found herself almost joining jiwoo and jungeun on the floor, breathless with tears in her eyes. by the time haseul managed to stop her own laughter, it had become contagious and the other girls had started too. for the first time that night, she'd seen some sort of emotion coming from kahei, and the older's grin as she laughed as hard as possible seemed so cute to haseul.  
  
ka hei's smile was absolutely mesmerising, and became the subject of haseul's thoughts as they all got up and continued on their journey, haseul now only mindlessly following jungeun. kahei's smile had faded, but it somehow stuck in haseul's mind well enough for it to feel like it hadn't left, or even wavered for a moment. she found herself grinning like a maniac while walking almost drunkenly, and she only returned back to reality when it clicked in her mind that the 'dorms' the girls were talking about were those at the local university.  
  
haseul felt fear building up. it had been her own choice to drop out following her friends' exclusions, but she wasn't much more liked by the staff on campus. while many of them must've been asleep by that point, she couldn't help wondering what would happen. she remembered the rules - "non-students in the dorms." but they'd walked so far, and it would have been pointless, and almost rude to tell the girls to turn back.  
  
the number to the dorm seemed familiar, like maybe a dorm room she’d visited before, but she couldn’t remember where from. she didn’t dwell on it too much, her mind soon guiding her thoughts back to the beautiful smile that belonged to kahei. as soon as the door was opened, jungeun told haseul to follow to the spare room, which the older complied with. it was small and scarily clean, unlike what haseul had seen of the living room.  
  
“i know it’s not much, but it’s all we have.”  
  
“don’t worry, it’s perfect.” haseul smiled, a genuine one. it wasn’t like the fictitious one she’d shown her friends and family time and time again. the three girls, despite having only just met them, brought something real to her that she knew she’d been missing for a long time.  
  
then, a dilemma appeared in her mind: phone. her parents must’ve been incredibly worried about why their daughter hadn’t contacted them with her whereabouts at what seemed to be an ungodly hour of the morning.  
  
“um, do you have a phone charger i could borrow?” haseul’s voice was kept low out of fear of going too far, but could still be heard from jiwoo’s laughter faintly playing in what must’ve been another room.  
  
“of course! you can use mine. i’ll just go get it and some pyjamas for you.” before haseul could speak up, jungeun was already out of the room and grabbing her belongs for haseul, who stood awkwardly in place, afraid of moving. “here you go. can i get you a glass of water or anything?”  
  
“er, no. you don’t need to give me your charger, i’m sure i’ll be fine until tomorrow.”  
  
“use it. i don’t have any classes tomorrow so i don’t need to charge it overnight.” a third and final ‘thank you’ escaped haseul’s lips, and jungeun scurried out of the room, going back to her own, letting haseul get ready to go to sleep. but the older didn’t let herself rest her eyes and go to sleep until she spent up to half an hour thinking about kahei’s captivating smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know it’s bad, but i’m really proud of the length. it’s not much longer than my usual chapters, but i’m proud of myself for being able to write more than i usually do.  
>   
> i also have a wjsn au and an nct au on twitter if anyone wants to check them out it’s @softiesojung.


	4. Chapter 4

"shit!" haseul exclaimed, sitting up in the bed as she realised that the vibrating noise was coming from her phone. sunlight was peeking through the curtains, and it took haseul a moment to recognise the room. however, when her realisations hit her, she fell backwards, hitting her head on the wall. "fuck!" a second expletive exited her mouth before she covered it with her hand, remembering who was inside the apartment at that time. jungeun would've most likely been asleep, meaning that haseul had woken her up from her uncensored vocabulary.  
  
feet could be heard running towards the door. haseul agitatedly rolled her eyes back, more frustrated with herself than whoever knocked at the door. sighing to herself and placing her hand on the back of her head, the brunette answered the door. behind it was none other than jungeun, with a worried look on her face.  
  
"are you okay? i heard you shout a few times. did you hit your head?" jungeun wore a pair of navy blue jeans and a white, knitted jumper. instead of replying, haseul groaned, turning back and falling onto the bed. she swore she could hear chuckles coming from jungeun, but the younger soon made her way over to ask what was wrong (receiving groans in response, but that part didn't matter as much).  
  
it went quiet momentarily before haseul could hear her father yelling angrily through the phone, though his words were unintelligible.  
  
"hello, sorry to bother you sir, but I am not your daughter. i'm jungeun, a friend of haseul's. i offered my hospitality to her for the night, and we were unable to charge her phone until now. i apologise for any convenience. haseul and i shall be making our way back to her car. she will be with you shortly, sir." haseul lifted her head to face jungeun who looked fed up with speaking so formally to the older's father - although she still held the phone to her ear. haseul mouthed _you're a lifesaver_ , and jungeun smiled a little before letting her face fall again. "she must've never told you about me, sir, but i can assure you that haseul and i are good friends. here, let me pass you over to her, and you can ask her yourself." haseul resisted taking the phone, but it was eventually fixated against her ear by jungeun.  
"hi, father. sorry for not letting you know. my phone died, and we've only just resurrected it." haseul tittered, but her attempt at humour crashed due to the silence on the other side of the line.  
  
" _jo haseul i want you home in no less and no more than an hour. failing to do so will result in punishment._ " haseul's father announced in a way that terrified haseul, even if she knew exactly would happen. " _and i would like to have a conversation about why you have not told me about this so-called good friend of yours._ " her father let out a hearty chuckle that sent shivers down her spine and instilled fear into her body. " _goodbye, my dear._ "  
  
jungeun ended the call after haseul had bid goodbye to her father. haseul was shaking, and goosebumps were forming on her arms. the terror in her eyes served as a cue for jungeun to pull the older into a hug, stroking her hair and whispering calming words in her ear. soon enough, the tears starting flowing out and sobs left her mouth.  
  
"what's going on?" there was nothing but concern in jungeun's tone, but something made haseul mistrust the younger. she shook her head into jungeun's chest, trying to keep her feelings in. "it's okay... you can tell me." _no, you can't, haseul. she can't be trusted._ "I'm here for you." _no, she's not. she's not there for you. she'll tell everyone. everyone'll laugh at you. you don't want people to laugh at you, do you? you don't want people to think of you as pathetic. it's what jinsol always says - strong and independent, strong and independent, strong and indep–_  
  
"get off me!" haseul screamed, pushing the younger against the wall. jungeun stayed where she was, not moving a muscle - just staring into haseul's eyes. "get out!" jungeun took one step toward haseul. then another one, and another one, before finally turning and leaving. the door closed behind her.  
  
haseul let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding and used all her willpower not to crash to the ground, sobbing. instead, she picked up her dress from the previous night and slipped it on. it was exiguous. she was cocksure it would be algid out.  
  
there was a knock at the door before it opened, jungeun appearing again. she had a pair of clothes in her hand, and let out a small _oh_ when she saw the older dressed. haseul sharpened her look, seeing it as far too late to be friendly.  
  
"i... er... brought these clothes for you if you need them." jungeun scurried to put the clothes on the bed. Haseul changed into them, shaking her head at her idiocracy. It was a pair of ripped, dark blue jeans, a blue shirt and a grey, oversized hoodie, which she thought to be similar to the one jinsol had lost when they were in university.  
  
stepping out of the room, haseul saw that kahei had woken up or returned from her class. the taller brunette was wearing more formal attire, a long white dress that made her look like an angel, or so haseul thought. without noticing, haseul found herself staring at kahei who was giving her a soft, sweet smile that made her heart flutter. haseul unconsciously smiled back, and bit her lip to stop herself once she realised.  
  
"are you ready to go home?" haseul nodded and left with the two girls.

* * *

haseul had never felt more awkward in her life. there was a heavy silence between her and jungeun, a possible result of jiwoo not being there to make them laugh and haseul's previous outburst. kahei, was expectedly silent, too, but she didn't seem to feel so artless in the situation.  
  
glances were shared between haseul and jungeun, but neither opened their mouths to say anything. haseul's mind was racing with ideas of what she could say, but none of them seemed to be right for the situation. as amiable as the girl had been before, they were in no way near close enough for haseul to open up to the younger - her own friends weren't even aware of what was going on behind closed doors.  
  
however, kahei's smile seemed to make everything a million times better. she wasn't stupid, she'd noticed the way haseul and jungeun were acting, and grabbed both of their hands, swinging them. haseul found herself biting her lip again, trying not to smile brighter than the sun. something about the older girl made her infinitely joyful. and although kahei didn't seem to have caught on, a snicker could be heard from jungeun.  
  
"i'm sorry, continue." jungeun said, and kahei began talking again, even though haseul hadn't heard the beginning of the story. it was something about people in her literature lecture goofing around and aiming for a reaction from a lecturer. but all haseul could focus on was her voice. kahei's voice was everything she imagined it to be and more. it was sweet, soothing, angelic - it made her heart race.  
  
"and that is how i nearly ended up high in my literature lecture." haseul missed the entire story, her eyes widening in shock of how long she must've been thinking about the older girl.  
  
"i think that was a lovely story, kahei. don't you think so, haseul?" jungeun questioned, picking up haseul's obvious reaction. there was a smug smirk plastered on jungeun's face, and part of haseul had to restrict herself from attacking the youngest. that part of her was the part that could see kahei in the corner of her eye, expecting a good reaction. therefore, haseul put on a fake smile and claimed 'the story was wonderful.'  
  
kahei gave a toothy grin, and haseul's heart skipped another beat. she'd never seen a smile so enchanting, so captivating as kahei's. butterflies were flying at hundreds of miles an hour in her stomach, although she had no space in her mind to think about her feelings. haseul was far too busy thinking about how much she wanted to treasure kahei. her sweet smile, her soft voice, everything about the older girl was perfect to haseul. kahei was perfect. examining her, haseul couldn't find a single flaw in her. she was sure that flaw was an unfamiliar concept to the pure being whose hand was still firmly in her own.  
  
"why don't we exchange phone numbers?" jungeun suggested, taking her phone out of her pocket. "here haseul, take mine. it has mine, kahei's and jiwoo's phone numbers in it. you can put them all into your own." haseul took the phone carefully, trying not to break it. as jungeun promised, all three phone numbers were there on a notes page with dashes to show which number belonged to which girl. jungeun's own came first, followed by jiwoo's and kahei's. however, next to kahei's, there was a small winking emoji. a blush crept up onto haseul's face. embarrassment was not the correct word to use in a description of how haseul felt. it was far more than that. she feared that kahei had seen it, and possibly put it together with haseul's panicky behaviour to deduct that she had a crush on the eldest.  
  
haseul made herself smaller, and purposefully started trailing behind the other two whose hands were still interlinked, aiming to use being occupied with exchanging numbers as an excuse. neither girl said anything, letting haseul get away with her actions. haseul shook her head, cursing herself for becoming a blushing mess about something so meaningless as a winking emoji. she sighed, slightly louder than hoped, and kahei turned around curiously, finally letting go of jungeun's hand.  
  
"do you need any help?" kahei asked?  
  
"no!" haseul exclaimed quickly, pulling both phone screens up to her chest, not realising how her remark would be perceived over her fear of kahei seeing the emoji. _yet another example of your own asininity._ "no... thank you." softer, calmer, this time. although evidently confused, kahei turned back around and all three of them continued walking back to where haseul's car was.  
  
"you know, haseul, i feel like i've seen you before. like, somewhere on tv maybe?" haseul's body froze, and her mind couldn't think what to do. she had opened her mouth to answer jungeun's question, she could not produce the words to go with it. her breaths became more rapid. a grin broke out on jungeun's face and she started laughing. "i'm kidding. they were talking about you on the news channel this morning. your mom's famous, i'm not going to judge you." although jungeun looked incredibly amused by the joke, haseul was not. for not only haseul, but her friends too, they all struggle with the aspect of keeping their identities secret and prefer to stay out of the spotlight. it was less of a problem for haseul - idol's daughter wasn't exactly the most attention-garnering title - but her friends drew extra, unneeded attention that haseul hadn't wanted.  
  
in regards to friends, haseul thought of it as a good time to get in contact with one of them. she had walked away earlier that night and not returned for the obvious reason of being lost. it was only fair that she let them know she was alive. jinsol seemed like the logical option since the two of them had fought, and sooyoung was far too caught up in thinking about that boy to speak to anyone else. therefore, haseul looked through her contacts, and called her.  
  
" _jo haseul you rodent where the fuck have you been?_ " guilt set in as soon as she heard jinsol's voice. despite the insult, her tone showed that she'd been worried. " _your dad called me. he never calls me! what the fuck are you doing?_ "  
  
"i'm on my way home now. some girls found me and let me stay in their flat. don't worry about me, sollie." jinsol scoffed, and haseul kept her phone a slight bit away from her phone.  
  
" _don't worry? don't worry? seullie you know i'm going to worry. your dad was angry. like angry angry. he sounded like he was going to kill me._ "  
  
"he always sounds like that... there's really no need to worry. it'll just make everything worse."  
  
" _come over afterwards._ " although it was a statement, it came out as a question, as request. haseul muttered _of course_ before hanging up, her car coming into view.  
  
"thank you for taking care of me. i'll pay you back, i promise." haseul said, standing outside her car. jungeun smiled softly, telling haseul that there was no need to do such a thing. kahei hugged haseul, almost jumping into her arms. haseul's knees turned into jelly, feelings controlling her actions. but jungeun followed the hug with another one, which allowed haseul to whisper an apology into the younger's ear.  
  
"it's okay. don't worry about it." jungeun whispered back, squeezing haseul lightly before stepping back. they bid goodbyes as haseul stepped into her car and drove off, preparing herself for what was waiting for her at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof i wanna make this lipseul… i might write a lipseul au... but i also wanna write a scorbus au so it might have to wait.
> 
> vivi is an angel fight me.


	5. Chapter 5

jinsol was getting more and more worried about haseul. it had been three hours. regardless of how many times she had texted her, the younger wouldn't pick up. curses and worst-case-scenarios were rushing through her mind. what if her rat of a father killed her? what if she was locked up and needed help? there was no way of telling, and that terrified jinsol.  
  
sooyoung was on her way over, although she had promised to knock on haseul's door to find her. impatience was killing her as she tapped her foot, played with her, and attempted to contact the youngest girl any way she could. tears pricked at her eyes, her hands shaking while her vision blurry. she was sure she'd accidently called her former roommate in university more times than she had actually called haseul. the thought of losing her best friend was playing in her mind. they hadn't made up - jinsol hadn't apologised in the slightest. if she lost haseul then, she had no idea how she would forgive herself. it was her fault that haseul had been spotted with those other girls, her fault that haseul hadn't gone home that night. she was the one who started the argument that caused haseul to walk off. and haseul's death would be jinsol's fault. she had killed her best friend.  
  
_bang bang bang_ scared her, but common sense insisted that sooyoung had arrived. jinsol almost fell down the stairs, rushing to receive something, anything about haseul. however, she was met with sad eyes and a shaking head. a frustrated groan left her mouth as she kicked a wall.  
  
"i'm sorry. they said she was asleep. i don't think she was."  
  
"of course she fucking wasn't!" jinsol exclaimed, a little loud as she received a distasteful look from the woman across the road. "sorry, mrs. kang. how was your night, sooyoung." the door closed, and the conversation topic changed. she wanted something to take her mind off her worries, not that she could stop thinking about the sickening feeling of guilt residing in her stomach.  
  
"it was nice. i didn't manage to sleep until late though. i was speaking to someone." jinsol only nodded, no responses forming in her mind. sooyoung noticed the younger's stiffness and pulled her into her chest, wrapping her arms around her waist. jinsol let her tears out, as well as sobs. shushes and soothing words were let out, but nothing seemed to help jinsol's nerves.  
  
"would miss jinsol like me to fetch her some ice cream?" the butler, taeil, questioned.  
  
"maybe later, taeil. thank you." sooyoung sent him off, her hands rubbing jinsol's back. "it's okay. she's gonna be okay."  
  
"it's my fault." was all that jinsol could say between sobs. sooyoung froze, shocked from what had come from jinsol's mouth. after years of friendship, it was still weird to all of the girls to see each other in such a vulnerable state, similar to the one jinsol was in. they were portrayed by the media as being strong and unbreakable, which was how they desired to keep their image. however, in recent years, that image had somehow flown through into their personal lives and they found themselves almost incapable of worrying and genuinely caring for each other - almost. times like this were as exclusion. times when one of them was in danger, and there was a threat that they would lose her. even if they never showed it, they were all immensely important to each other. they were each other's escapes. because when they were with each other, they could almost be themselves. they could be as happy and weak as they felt the need to. they never needed to question anything. everything had an answer, everything was right.  
  
"don't say that, sweetheart. it's not your fault. you did nothing wrong. don't say that. please." sooyoung was trying to be strong, for jinsol's sake, but her voice was cracking. sooyoung had always been somewhat of a mixture between jinsol and haseul. haseul was the "mom friend" who worried too much and was far too overprotective of them, while jinsol would encourage stupid things that could potentially end in danger. sooyoung was rational, but wasn't afraid to let danger and what others said get in her way. sooyoung wasn't weak or vulnerable, but she would often allow herself to break in certain situations.  
  
jinsol stayed in sooyoung's arms, crying for a while but eventually the pair of them went upstairs to see if haseul had been in touch with them at all. nothing. sooyoung grabbed part of jinsol's hair and stroked it.  
  
"she'll be okay. she's _strong_."

* * *

strong, by dictionary definition, meant having the power to move heavy weights or perform other physically demanding tasks. jinsol did not feel strong at all. morning came and she could barely move out of her bed. the last time she remember was around five thirty five, and she was woken up by her brother, jaehyun's, ridiculously loud alarm at seven am. she should've checked her phone for anything from haseul. but haseul knew better than to stay up as late as jinsol would. she didn't know that jinsol was waiting for her. plus, after what her dad might've done and said to her, the sleep was needed.  
  
jaehyun entered the room with a pillow in hand and smirk on his face, ready to hit his unknowing sister and wake her up. however, he was met with a scowl that could scare even the most evil of creatures.  
  
"you okay? you look like someone killed you and you saw your own ghost." he asked, stopping in the doorway, and staying out of arms length of his clearly annoyed sister.  
  
"you'll be ghost soon." her voice was rough but emotionless, tiredness taking away her capacity to show any sort of emotion. jaehyun simply nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. still, jinsol couldn't move. she didn't want to move. her bed was warm and soft, and the real world that lied away from it was cold and hard. she would've preferred to stay in bed all day than to ever face the real world. the press, the fans, her parents. everything was all too much for her in that day, and she would've preferred to lock herself away.  
  
"miss jinsol, miss haseul is requesting to see you - _with her mother._ " taeil announced as he walked into the room, startling jinsol. "i should let you know that it is best to dress up formally as quickly as possible. i have been given permission by your mother to allow them in.  
  
jinsol did what was asked of her and wore a short, black dress, a pair of black high heels. the reason was unknown, but she didn't question it. haseul's mother was not someone to be messed with, and the only person who would ask someone to be dressed formally at seven in the morning. before applying her makeup, she looked into the mirror and examined the black bags under her eyes - as large as always. no changes.  
  
when she arrived downstairs and into the living quarters, she was greeted politely by mrs. jo, who was happily chatting with her own mother. one glance at haseul, who was obviously half asleep, showed that the younger also thought that a meet up so early in the morning was uncalled for.  
  
mrs. jo was an elegant woman - as to be expected of an idol known for her fashion sense. mrs. jo had always made headlines, and kept magazines in which she was on the front cover framed all over the house. some may have called her an egoist, but jinsol looked up to her more than she did her own mother. she may have been a force to be reckoned with, but she was fierce. jinsol grew up watching her performances, loving every one of them so much that she even memorised the dances. she knew all the moves, and would dance them in public when the songs came on. even better, mrs. jo had a heart of gold, especially when it came to haseul and her friends. she spoiled them recklessly, buying them presents and treats whenever she could. out of all of the girls' mothers, jinsol loved mrs. jo the most. she wanted to be mrs. jo the most. some may have said that she was using her friendship with haseul as to become an idol herself, but haseul knew that it was only natural for someone to want to spend as much time as possible with their idol, and so let jinsol do just that.  
  
"i understand that this is sudden, mrs. jung, and i'm sorry if i'm inconveniencing you in any way. i thought it would be best if we met up for breakfast to discuss our daughters' relationship, you know, before the big day." jinsol froze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's a short chapter oof. i'm sorry. i tried my best. i'll go over it and add more later.


End file.
